Tuesday, 22 December 2015

RAIL TRAVEL OVER CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR

Lines across the country closed for up to
two weeks, links to Heathrow and Gatwick severed and journey times
doubled

Millions of rail passengers are facing disruption and delays over Christmas

£150m of engineering works will cause closures, delays and overcrowding

Great Western, Greater Anglia, Southeastern and Brighton line all affected

Major services between Gatwick and Heathrow airports hugely disrupted

Rail
passengers are facing travel chaos over the Christmas period as the
largest ever programme of engineering works closes train lines for up to
two weeks and cuts links to Heathrow and Gatwick.

Millions
of travellers trying to get home for the festive period or to major
airports to jet off for some winter sun face a raft of cancellations and
diverted routes causing delays and doubled journey times.

Engineering
works will block the main line from London to Gatwick for ten days,
with the last Gatwick Express of the year leaving Victoria at 9.15pm on
Christmas Eve and not restarting until January 4.

There
will also be rail closures to Heathrow for four days from Christmas Day
due to Crossrail works, meaning neither Heathrow Express nor Heathrow
Connect trains will run from London Paddington.

Half the usual number of trains to Heathrow are set to run between December 29 and January 2.

A
Heathrow spokesman said: 'The Piccadilly Line and additional bus and
coach services will be operating. Passengers are advised to leave extra
time when travelling to the airport.'

At
Gatwick, more than half a million passengers alone are thought to be
disrupted by the works – with trains terminating at Purley in South
London instead of continuing their usual route.

A
spokesman said: 'We recommend passengers check updates before they
travel, plan their route carefully, and allow extra time if intending to
travel by rail during this time. These works are an essential part of
plans to double rail capacity at Gatwick by 2020.'

Train
operator Great Western Railway said the closure is 'part of a large
programme of engineering in the Thames Valley needed for the launch of
Crossrail in 2019.'

The
£150million redevelopment programme on Great Western, Greater Anglia,
Southeastern and the Brighton mainline is also expected to lead to
station closures, delays and overcrowding.

Journey
disruption is also expected for travellers who had planned to head to
Wales and the South West during the Christmas period.

On
the Great Western mainline, Paddington Station will be closed on
December 27 and 28, forcing people to find alternative routes from
Marylebone which go via Banbury and Oxford adding up to one hour and 30
minutes to the trip.

Those heading to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall will also have their travel plans scuppered on December 27 and 28.

They
will have to travel from London Waterloo with trains diverting to
Basingstoke and Reading adding one hour and 20 minutes to their journey.

Travellers
in the east also face lengthy delays because, for the entire festive
season from Christmas Eve to January 4, London Bridge station, Waterloo
East, Charing Cross and Cannon Street stations will all be closed to
Southeastern services.

The reduced services from Kent and East Sussex will end in Victoria, Blackfriars and New Cross stations instead.

Train
links between Ipswich, Norwich and London Liverpool Street will also be
closed for five days with services stopping at Ingatestone, Essex, and
passengers offered a bus replacement service.

HOW WILL YOU BE AFFECTED? CHRISTMAS 2015 TRAIN SERVICES IN BRITAIN

OPERATOR

THU 24 DEC

FRI 25 DEC

SAT 26 DEC

SUN 27 DEC

MON 28 DEC

Abellio Greater Anglia / Stansted Express

Normal service finishes early

No service

Stansted Express only

Sunday service

Monday service

Arriva Trains Wales

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Amended service

Amended service

c2c

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service

Sunday service

Caledonian Sleeper

No overnight service

No service

No service

Amended service

Amended service

Chiltern Railways

Normal service finishes early

No service

London-Oxford only

Amended service

Amended service

CrossCountry

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service

Monday service

East Midlands Trains

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service, buses for Kettering-Corby

Near normal Monday service

Eurostar

Amended service

No service

Amended service

Amended service

Amended service

First TransPennine Express

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service

Monday service

Gatwick Express

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

No service

No service

Grand Central

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Near normal Sunday service

Monday service

Great Northern

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service

Amended service

Great Western Railway

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Amended service; no trains to/from London

Amended service; no trains to/from London

Heathrow Connect/Express

Normal service finishes early

Heathrow Central-T4/5 only

Heathrow Central-T4/5 only

Heathrow Central-T4/5 only

Heathrow Central-T4/5 only

Hull Trains

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Amended service

Amended service

Island Line

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service

Monday service

London Midland

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service

Amended service

London Overground

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service

Saturday service

Merseyrail

Normal service finishes early

No service

Limited service

Sunday service

Saturday service

Northern Rail

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service

Monday service

ScotRail

Normal service finishes early

No service

Strathclyde services only

Sunday service

Monday service

South West Trains

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service

Saturday service

Southeastern

Normal service finishes early

No service

London-Ashford HS1, 8am to 8pm

Sunday service

Amended Saturday service

Southern

Normal service finishes early

No service

Limited service

Amended service

Amended service

TfL Rail

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Buses for Ilford-Shenfield route

Buses for Ilford-Shenfield

Thameslink

Normal service finishes early

No service

Limited service

Amended service

Amended service

Virgin Trains East Coast

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Amended service

Amended service

Virgin Trains

Normal service finishes early

No service

No service

Sunday service

Monday service

Services
in Lincolnshire will also be severely disrupted with the north-east of
the county cut off from the rest of the rail network for over a
fortnight.

A Network Rail spokesman said: 'A 15-day closure of the line will see the replacement of much of the current signalling system.'

Stephen
Joseph, director of the Campaign for Better Transport, said the large
number of engineering works over the festive period had highlighted a
'lack of surface transport options' to London's airports.

He
said: 'These engineering works will of course cause huge problems for
travellers and I suspect the decision has been taken to inconvenience
airline passengers, rather than inconvenience commuters.

'What
these closures highlight, however, is the lack of surface transport
options to both Heathrow and Gatwick, which is something the Government
is still failing to address in its plans for airport expansion.'

Teresa Pearce, Labour MP for Erith and Thamesmead, warned that the engineering works could cause 'bedlam'.

She
said: 'Stations will be blockaded and shut. They are not explaining to
people that services will cease from Charing Cross and Cannon Street at
about 8pm on Christmas Eve.

'So everyone who works in a shop in the West End is not going to get home unless they do something different. So it's bedlam.'

The
improvements which include building new tracks, lengthening platforms
for longer trains and upgrading signalling across the networks are part
of a plan 'aimed at meeting surging demand and improving and expanding
our railway network,' said Network Rail.

Network
Rail bosses are under pressure to finish rail engineering works on time
to avoid a repeat of the Christmas travel chaos fiasco in north London
last year.

That
saw thousands of passengers stuck at Finsbury Park on December 27 after
work at King's Cross and at Paddington stations overran.

There
is also disruption expected on the Caledonian Sleeper rail service in
the run-up to Christmas after workers voted to go on strike.

Members
of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union backed walkouts and
other forms of industrial action by nine to one over claims of defects
on trains.

The
union has accused operator Serco of failing to fix faults on the
service between Scotland and London. RMT has claimed the strikes will
most likely take place in the days leading up to Christmas, which could
leave many travellers struggling to rearrange plans for the holidays.

RMT
general secretary Mick Cash said: 'The poor service to passengers, in
conjunction with the company's failure to address the issues, left us
with no option but to ballot for industrial action.

'That ballot has now recorded a massive vote for action and that mandate will be considered by the union's executive.'

The
union claimed there were more than 200 defects on trains - including
smoke detectors disconnected, toilets being inoperable, and lighting and
heating systems not working.

Air
conditioning problems throughout the summer left passengers sweltering
in the sleeping berths, said the RMT, adding there was no hot water in
some coaches for hand washing.

Officials
claim there has been a loss of power in coaches during some journeys,
leaving staff having to find alternative accommodation during the night
for passengers.

Peter
Strachan, managing director of the Caledonian Sleeper, said: 'While we
are disappointed that the RMT has voted in favour of industrial action
and action short of a strike, we have not yet received notification from
the RMT of their intention.

'Christmas
is one of the busiest times of the year for the Caledonian Sleeper
service and we therefore remain hopeful that we can minimise any
disruption to guests.'

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